Professional Photographer

Ring light fun

The insane popularity of ring lights in the last year is astounding. As photographers we’ve had this type of lighting for decades but it was always expensive and difficult to justify as the look is very specific. With the advent of LED technology these lights have now become a lot more affordable, and give constant light – unlike a flash-ringlight.

In fashion their use isn’t that prevalent as it fails to contour the clothing as well as other lighting setups. However, it does give a very cool catch-light once we start coming in closer for beauty photography or accessories – think Sunglasses!

Makeup artist have now also flocked to these lights as they are very bright, light and easy to assemble and can create that even, shadow-less lighting on a model’s face that makes judging makeup a lot easier. Colours come up perfectly and with the ability to easily calibrate these lights to either tungsten or daylight, MUAs can quickly gauge how their makeup may look.

Anyway – back to the fashion. On this shoot with Meika (who is an absolute champ) I didn’t actually use the ring light at all and opted for a mix of natural light and one strobe. I did, however, do a little facetime with Meika at the end just casually shooting through the ringlight. Always fun especially when you have a playful model.

One thing to keep in mind from a photography perspective is that even though these lights appear very bright, they are still less light than a ring flash. So when shooting high detail beauty at F11 and more you’ll find they are still not bright enough. However, if you can compromise on that aperture or push the ISO a bit, then they are perfectly capable.

From what I have seen so far, they come with their own handy bag as well as a light stand. The colour correctors are plastic panels that easily clip on. Power is supplied by an international power brick that appears to handle most currents. The centre of the light also comes with a phone adapter holder for taking selfies or shooting videos.

Even as a photographer I think I would definitely consider buying this light. Even with it’s lack of power compared to pro-flash-lights it makes up for it in price and flexibility. Yes I know, it’s not as portable as a dedicated ring flash, but as I said – the price. Check it out here and grab a handy discount using coupon code “lightdrop” –> www.makeupandglow.com.au/Makeup-and-Glow-Pro-Ring-Light.html